So I have gone from Zero to 122 countries (on paper anyway) since getting back into the hobby, and into HF last December, so I decided to treat myself to a new radio, the Yaesu Fdx3000. I've done all my work with the little used FT450, which isn't a bad radio, but it's a little small and there are some controls that have to be adjusted from menus that the 3000 will direct access (a knob). It also has three ant. ports on the back so I won't have to use a switch like I do now. It's pretty nice eye candy too, so hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a new toy.

I hear many good things about the FTDX3000, I hope this rig will serve you very well.

I had a Ft450 for 3 yrs and now have a TS590, my next radio will be a yaesu again, but it might take a while before I will have one again.Still have my FT857D as back-up rig and field work and portable.

I still use the FT857D with great fun and it is an awfully nice compact workhorse for camping and holiday use.

Had a FT920 for 10 yrs and all radios i have and had never let me down, I must have had all the luck in the world hihi.

I've been using my FTDX-3000 for a while now and I have a great time using it. Other hams are always saying good comments about my audio quality. I'm using the Yaesu MD-100 mic just with the mic's high emphasis switch on and with the 3000's Mic EQ off. My favorite thing is the 3000's USB computer plug. I can use all digital modes without any interface box between the 3000 and my laptop computer.

There is only one thing I don't favor about the FTDX-3000 and it is lack of a power knob for USB / LSB modes. The power must be adjusted in the radio's menu system. All other mode's power (CW, RTTY, DATA, AM and FM) can be adjusted with the PROC / CAR knob.

The FTDX-3000's firmware was just updated by Yaesu on March 27, 2014 and is available on Yaesu's website.

I've been using my FTDX-3000 for a while now and I have a great time using it. Other hams are always saying good comments about my audio quality. I'm using the Yaesu MD-100 mic just with the mic's high emphasis switch on and with the 3000's Mic EQ off. My favorite thing is the 3000's USB computer plug. I can use all digital modes without any interface box between the 3000 and my laptop computer.

Good to know on the USB interface, I'll be wanting to try some digital modes soon. The delivery date was updated to Thurs by UPS, so I have another day to read the manual, which is well written.

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There is only one thing I don't favor about the FTDX-3000 and it is lack of a power knob for USB / LSB modes. The power must be adjusted in the radio's menu system. All other mode's power (CW, RTTY, DATA, AM and FM) can be adjusted with the PROC / CAR knob

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Thanks for the tip.

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The FTDX-3000's firmware was just updated by Yaesu on March 27, 2014 and is available on Yaesu's website.

I downloaded the firmware today in preparation in case the radio I get needs updating as it seems it will if the latest file is Mar 27. It's nice that the radio will be kept up to date with these firmware releases. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

Make sure you also download and install the USB drivers on the Yaesu website prior to connection of the FTDX-3000 to your computer. A USB cable is not supplied with the 3000, but it is a USB type cable typically used with USB connected printers. It is sometimes called a "USB A/B" cable.

An FTP site I found has a lot of FTDX-3000 tips and settings help for data modes. It's address is: http://ftp://computerclub.no-ip.org/ The login is: ft3000 and the password is: ft3000

Also, Yaesu is offering a $120 mail-in rebate for FTDX-3000's for North American buyers between April 1 to June 30, 2014. The rebate form and how to claim it can be downloaded from the Yaesu website.

Thursday will be a big day for you!

P.S. The DVS-6 Voice Memory Unit is well worth buying and installing. It provides 5 20-second memories to record your voice for CQ, etc and is controlled by the FH-2 remote keypad, which does come with the FTDX-3000

Make sure you also download and install the USB drivers on the Yaesu website prior to connection of the FTDX-3000 to your computer. A USB cable is not supplied with the 3000, but it is a USB type cable typically used with USB connected printers. It is sometimes called a "USB A/B" cable.

An FTP site I found has a lot of FTDX-3000 tips and settings help for data modes. It's address is: ftp://computerclub.no-ip.org/ The login is: ft3000 and the password is: ft3000

Also, Yaesu is offering a $120 mail-in rebate for FTDX-3000's for North American buyers between April 1 to June 30, 2014. The rebate form and how to claim it can be downloaded from the Yaesu website.

Thursday will be a big day for you!

P.S. The DVS-6 Voice Memory Unit is well worth buying and installing. It provides 5 20-second memories to record your voice for CQ, etc and is controlled by the FH-2 remote keypad, which does come with the FTDX-3000

Thanks for the info - I'll check out the website today. Yea I know about the rebate, I just hope it doesn't take as long as the one for the FT-8800 I bought last year. That rebate took 3 months to receive!

Note: I clicked on the link you posted and it doesn't connect to a site.

The HTTP part shouldn't have been in the link. It must be this forum that adds it. Remove the http:// from the link.

Sometimes the FTP site isn't available, but most of the time it is. If it doesn't connect, just try later. If you still can't connect, send me an email (my address on QRZ.com), and I'll reply to you with some attachment documents that will get you started.

It's amazing. I knew it would be better than my FT-450 but I was blown away by the quality and sound of it. Even though I have a lot more to learn I sure made a good decision on this rig.

One question - I did the main firmware upgrade and in the procedure it called for a reset - which resets all the parameters to factory specs. I got that out of the way first. Is that reset really needed? My point is, if after a few months when I set up a lot of menu items, and another firmware comes out, I sure don't want to have to set all of them back up after a reset. Any thoughts on that? Is there any way to save and reload all the menu settings?

There is a very easy to use backup program called "YBackup" you can download from the FTP site I mentioned earlier in the Software folder. The program communicates through the enhanced COM port (if you have installed the Yaesu com drivers) on your computer with your FTDX-3000. It will save your settings by reading every CAT control command as a text file.

Change MENU 037 to "38400bps" on your FTDX-3000, then connected your FTDX-3000 via USB to your computer. Make sure the enhanced COM port on your computer is set as "38400, 8, N, 1, No Flow Control". When starting the "YBackup" software, choose "FT-XXXX" from the drop-down menu and choose your enhanced COM port. Click the "Enable Serial Port" button and the software will do a test first to see if it is connected properly to your FTDX-3000 by reading the current freq on your radio. If all is good, choose the "Backup Radio -> File", choose the name of the text file your would like to use. The software will write all of your settings to the text file. If your have checked all the options, it will take about 5 minutes or so to complete. While it's running, your radio will change freqs as they are read, so don't be alarmed. To restore, just pick the text file you saved when choosing the "Restore Radio -> File".

I tried to add this to my last post but the editing period had timed out. Maybe we should start a ftdx-3000 thread somewhere.

Anyway, I was investigating the Freq Adj. menu #47. I don't understand how the procedure works. It's described on pg. 116 in the manual. Could you try it and tell me why I don't see a "bar display" to adjust when I enter set menu #47?

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